Sunderland vs Millwall: Mike Dodds reveals injury latest, early team news and selection approach

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Mike Dodds’ pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s match against Millwall.

The Black Cats boss is set to speak to the media just after 12:15, and we’ll have live updates from the Academy of Light right here.

Stick around and refresh the page for the latest SAFC news.

While Sunderland will be looking to strengthen over the summer, the club are likely to field interest in many of their key players.

When asked about potentially selling some of the Black Cats’ best assets, Dodds said:

“It's got to be right for the football club and all those players are under contract, I don't know the exact ins and outs because my focus is on the grass, but my understanding is that they have lengthy contracts and so the club are in a strong position.

“So it's really clear that if anyone wants to come and take a Sunderland player then they're going to have to pay the premium because whoever it is, you're talking about a young player who has already done well but still has the potential to develop further. You're also talking about a player with time on their contract so when you put those three things together, it's clear that you would have to pay a premium.”

In terms of team news, it’s hoped that both Dennis Cirkin (below) and Corry Evans will be able to feature before the end of the season, yet it’s unclear if they'll be available for Saturday’s match.

Nazariy Rusyn and Elliot Embleton remain sidelined, along with long-term absentees Niall Huggins and Jenson Seelt.

We’ll get a further update from Dodds this afternoon.

“The group are ok. We are fully prepared for the weekend. Obviously we have tomorrow for some final preparations. We know the game on Saturday is going to be a different type of game and we have to be ready for that.”

“It will definitely be too soon for Dennis. I’ve had a conversation with Dennis this morning. He part trained with the group. Obviously Dennis is very keen to be back amongst the squad and try and get involved. Unfortunately I’m going to have to be the voice of reason for him because he’s had a significant amount of time off. We want to try and get him on the pitch before the summer but I think we are going to have to take it week by week.”

“Corry had a week where he had a little bit of a flare up with his groin. He has been training with the group. If not this weekend, definitely the following weekend providing everything goes alright with Corry.”

“That was one of the things we spoke about as a group when I took over a few months ago. There was a number of areas we needed to focus on, set-pieces. I feel our defensive set-up from set-pieces has been really good and that’s going to have to be the case on Saturday because they are such a threat from set-pieces. We scored from a set-piece on Saturday.

“I wanted us to be harder to play against and it’s probably taken us a little bit longer than I would've liked. We only conceded one goal against Leicertsre and one goal against Norwich. There were signs we were getting better out of possession. I would have liked to have seen the group score more goals but I think having some of the attacking options unavailable for the first part of when I took over, it was always going to be difficult.”

“I have a lot of admiration for the job he’s done in a short period of time. Obviously they wanted to go in a different direction. They went from Gary to Joe. I don’t know Joe but Joe has a similar background to myself and it didn’t quite work out for him. I genuinely feel you have good fits and bad fits whether it be coaches or managers at certain football clubs, and I think Millwall will probably highlight that in going from someone who is well respected in the game in terms of a coach in Joe Edwards, then appointing Neil after Joe, who would be very different in terms of how they approach the game.

“Neil has done extremely well in terms of getting the absolute maximum of what he’s got at his disposal. Really well organised, 4-4-2. They are a real threat on transitions. A lot of the goals since Neil has come in have been via transitions. As always they are a threat from set-pieces. Results have picked up for them and it’s going to be a really difficult game.”

“I did think when you play against a former team, you can find an extra five per cent because you want to do well. Both players I think suit Millwall, in terms of they are really industrious and will leave everything on the pitch.

“Whatever team they do pick, they will be really hard to play against and embody all the principles I’m sure the head coach wants to imprint on the team.”